Russia denies finding excuses to invade Ukraine – Orange County Register

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and YURAS KARMANAU

MOSCOW (AP) – Russia’s top diplomat angrily denied U.S. accusations that Moscow was preparing a pretext to invade Ukraine, as Russian troops massed near the Ukrainian border launched further attacks. exercise on Monday.

The White House said on Friday that US intelligence officials had concluded that Russia had deployed special operations forces to rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine to carry out acts of sabotage there and blamed Russia. Ukraine in a “false flag operation” to create a pretext for possible invasion. .

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the US claim as “totally disinformation.”

He reaffirmed that Russia expects a written response this week from the United States and its allies to Moscow’s request for binding guarantees that NATO will not encircle Ukraine or any other EU country. Old buckets, or garrisoned their forces and weapons there.

Washington and its allies firmly rejected Moscow’s demands during last week’s Russia-US talks in Geneva and the related NATO-Russia meeting in Brussels, which was held when an estimated 100,000 Russian troops with Tanks and other heavy weapons are concentrated near Ukraine according to the West. Fear can be a prelude to an invasion.

Amid the military buildup, Russia has in recent weeks staged a series of battles in areas bordering Ukraine. On Monday, the army announced the launch of another exercise involving armored units stationed in western Russia, including 300 combat vehicles.

A delegation of US senators is visiting Ukraine to emphasize US support for the country.

“Our bipartisan congressional delegation sends a clear message to the global community: The United States always stands with our Ukrainian partners to defend their sovereignty and face persistent aggression. of Russia,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, said in a statement.

Speaking on Monday during a visit to Kyiv, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned that “any further escalation will come at a heavy cost for the Russian regime – economically, politically and strategically” – and insisted the need to continue negotiations.

“We are prepared for serious dialogue with Russia, because diplomacy is the only way to defuse this extremely dangerous situation,” she said.

Baerbock said Germany has offered to send cybersecurity experts to Ukraine to help investigate last week’s cyberattacks, which Ukrainian authorities have blamed on Russia. At the same time, she noted that Germany has not changed its refusal to provide arms to the country.

“We have made it clear that we will do everything to avoid an escalation of the crisis,” she said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a visit to Spain that “we expect clear steps from Russia to de-escalate the situation,” adding that “military aggression against Ukraine will lead to serious economic and political consequences”.

Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia could launch an attack from various directions, including from the territory of its ally Belarus.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who is increasingly dependent on the Kremlin for support amid Western sanctions over a brutal crackdown on protests in the country, said Russia and Belarus will hold major military exercises next month.

Lukashenko said the drills will be conducted on the western border of Belarus and also in the southern part of the country, which borders Ukraine. Belarusian Security Council secretary Alexander Volfovich said on Monday that Russian troops had begun arriving in the country to take part in the drills, according to the BELTA news agency.

Russia denies planning to attack its neighbour, and accuses the Ukrainian leadership of hatching a plan to use force to regain control of territories held by Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities have denied that.

Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 after Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly leader was ousted, while also adding weight to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. More than 14,000 people were killed in the nearly eight years of fighting there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow will take unspecified “military-technical measures” if the West opposes its demands.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who led the Russian delegation at talks with the United States in Geneva, said last week he would “neither confirm nor rule out” the possibility of Russia sending military assets to Cuba and Venezuela. America and its allies would not have restricted their military activities on Russia’s doorstep. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan dismissed the comments as slander.

Asked on Monday about the possibility of Russia deploying missiles to Cuba and Venezuela, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “Russia is thinking about how to ensure its security in light of the current situation.” now”.

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Yuras Karmanau reports from Kyiv, Ukraine. Frank Jordans in Berlin and Aritz Parra in Madrid contributed to this report.